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Destiny Tower

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R7 – Post-Boss 6 – Pride of a Legend

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
<><><>
Maple still didn't appreciate being in Destiny Tower after all the time she'd spent there recovering from her encounter with Joule. The pristine, white walls of the tower only reminded her of her weakness. Still, she shoved those feelings aside and nodded toward the team.

"Thank you all for coming," she said. "At least, to those who remained. As I said, there is little for us that is essential to discuss with the whole group, but we are going to be releasing Rayquaza, Groudon, and Kyogre from their capture spheres, now."

Shield stood nearby, holding the bag that contained them. Apparently, Arceus trusted Shield enough to do so, deeming him rational when he knew he was trapped. Karat, too, had been released, though there was a psychic aura around him that seemed to be suppressing any attempts at Teleport.

"They can come out on their own," Shield said. "I'm not sure why they aren't..."

"I can think of a few reasons," Pop said with the smallest hint of venom.
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
Pronouns
they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
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Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
"It must weigh heavily on Rayquaza's mind in particular," Maple remarked, looking to the ceiling. "After all, this is the second time in a half-century that he'd been corrupted and then bested by mortals." She eyed the team. "Granted, it took more than three this time."

Rayquaza's sphere wiggled.

"Before we summon those three, I want to ask you a few questions first, Shield." Pop stared down. "First question... Why am I not able to read your mind?"

"Maybe he doesn't have one?" Cal asked.
 

Virgil134

PMD Writer
Partners
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Cabot gave Karat a skeptical look. "And why did you have a bunch of others try to kill us? I thought you liked our team after some of us helped you out with that corrupted Rattata!"
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
Pronouns
they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
Brisa sighed.

"Our posse's record is pretty patchy. We haven't done right by everyone since arrivin'. It's small wonder folks are still suspicious. But what's complicatin' things worst of all is how many factions and unknowns and goddamn uncertainties are still at hand. And that's without considerin' how much Radiance and Shaow are playin' hell with folks' minds."

Luz snapped her fingers and gestured thoughtfully. "What my gal here is gettin' at is that we need a better means of verifyin' everyone's honest intentions to each other. Perhaps the services of a master psychic. Now personally I don't think that's necessary, but..."

Brisa scowled mildly. "I'm gonna have a word with Voice of Life Buffet at his earliest convencience about summonin' a particular telepath to Cibus to facilitate a better paradigm of communication between involved parties. If not fer Shield, then fer Darkwhite and whoever."

She stared hard at Shield for a moment. "Though perhaps you'd like to tell us what yer purported relationship is with that lil' scoundrel?"
 

Ambyssin

Gotta go back. Back to the past.
Location
Residency hell
Pronouns
he/him
Partners
  1. silvally-dragon
  2. necrozma-ultra
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. dreepy
  6. mewtwo-ambyssin
“It’s not going to work.” Bahamut bit back the urge for a dismissive wave. “We could only be sent here by Diyem. Anyone you know will be from a world that’s similarly too far for the journey. Even if Buffet could summon them, they’d get stripped of their powers like the rest of us.”
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Karat scowled at Cabot, but said nothing. Brisa had said it for him.

"You mean that... Darkwhite?" Shield said. "I don't... I don't know. I don't recognize her by her appearance, and I don't know what's going on with her, but that... the feel I have for her. The aura? I--I'm not familiar with aura yet, but it's... it has to be Sword."

"Sword..." Maple frowned. "You mean your partner, the Charmander?"

Shield nodded. "Sword and I were supposed to fight Dark Matter and ascend the Tree of Life. But before we could do that..." He looked away. "Well, the tree just... it was destroyed before we had the chance. There was a massive explosion of light, and the last thing I remember was seeing the shockwave coming toward us. I... I held Sword close and squeezed my eyes shut. And then... I woke up here."
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
Pronouns
they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
Brisa shot Bahamut a sour look.

"If that's true, I'm sure Buffet will corroborate your assessment, fella."

Fuckin' dude was no less cavalier for bein' a cat-critter and not a great big fuckin' prism, huh.

And then... I woke up here.

"You thought that was Dark Matter, right? And that yer Dark Matter was the same one who summoned us. I don't blame ya for your presumptions, given the circumstances. But I'm inclined to assume from yer description that it were some other party who interceded."

"Some other party like Necrozma Joule?" asked Luz, helpfully.

Yeah.

Like him.
 

Negrek

Play the Rain
Staff
Nate drummed his fingers against the gleaming white tile of Destiny Tower's floor. Not exactly the place he'd like to hang out if he had the choice, and he wanted to get Silver's pokémon back to their trainer as soon as possible. But of course it looked like people were going to take this opportunity to talk actually-important shit, so he couldn't just fucking leave. Besides, he had some questions of his own.

"So, Lucario... Shield. You said you've been fighting a Mewtwo, right?We saw him catch"--he gestured vaguely at the luxio and her familiar--"that, ah, Necrozma guy. I'm sure it don't mean anything good, but I dunno what that asshole's up to. Got any clue what he's planning?"
 
Partners
  1. skiddo-steplively
  2. skiddo-px2
  3. skiddo-px3
  4. skiddo-iametrine
  5. skiddo-coolshades
  6. skiddo-rudolph
  7. skiddo-sleepytime
  8. snowskiddo
  9. skiddotina
  10. skiddengo
  11. skiddoyena
"And how do all those other pokémon figure into this?" Skara asked from her usual position by the exit. The weather was trending more and more toward chilly these days, and being ill-suited for the cold wasn't making moving this accursed box around any easier. "It sounds like they're friends with Silver, and he's a human from a different world. Are they all from your world? Or did a Dark Matter—or Joule, maybe, or something else—destroy their world, too? And..."

And if they were from Silver's world, wouldn't they presumably have arrived at roughly the same time? But Silver had been trapped in that machine, and had lost a lot of his memory, to hear the others on the team tell it. So why...

"Do they know what's going on with the other mewtwo? Do they have any idea what's going on at all, or do they conveniently not remember anything, either?"
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
"You thought that was Dark Matter, right? And that yer Dark Matter was the same one who summoned us. I don't blame ya for your presumptions, given the circumstances. But I'm inclined to assume from yer description that it were some other party who interceded."
"So, Lucario... Shield. You said you've been fighting a Mewtwo, right?We saw him catch"--he gestured vaguely at the luxio and her familiar--"that, ah, Necrozma guy. I'm sure it don't mean anything good, but I dunno what that asshole's up to. Got any clue what he's planning?"

Shield shook his head and raised his hands. "No," he said. "No, I think I have my assumptions right on. You guys are pawns in all of this. Your Dark Matter must have been using you as... some sort of tether to get into this world."

"What makes you say that?" Maple asked. "The Dark Matter that sent Team Spectrum here recently lost communication with them."

"What a coincidence," Shield said with a venomous frown. "While I was busy freeing Rayquaza and the others from that Mewtwo's clutches, my aura senses spiked. A horrible, horrible aura of darkness, just like what these ones give off"--he gestured to Team Spectrum--"was somewhere in that labyrinth deep under the Isle of Light. It's pretty clear to me that Dark Matter and that Mewtwo are working together. How else did he draw such dark powers all this time?"

Cal, meanwhile, turned toward Silver's team. "Hey, we should get Sivler," she said. "We can't understand them, right...? It's some kind of... foreign feral talk. I don't think any of us can understand them... Maybe they do know, like the box--uh, I mean, Skara said."

Owen flashed a disciplinary glare toward Cal.

"Sorry," Cal added to Skara in a mumble.
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
Pronouns
they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
"Hang on a minute," said Brisa, her mind sprinting. "Shield, there's a hell of a lot you ain't caught up with yet. The Mewtwo you're fightin' created an artificial Dark Matter some time ago, and we destroyed it in Shaymin Village, under orders of our Dark Matter. Then there's the issue of the Dark Matter belongin' to Balm and Cepa's world, which last I heard was still unaccounted for. There's more in play here than you thought."

She took a bracing breath.

"I know you ain't got much reason to trust us, and I know you think we're pawns, but I still got my reasons to keep some faith in Diyem. But we ain't here because Diyem gave an order, we're here 'cause we all agreed to help save another world. And I still believe that was Diyem's true intention. And if I'm wrong, and Diyem really was just usin' us like you said, we'll fight him at yer side the same as we would fight any threat to the world. I swear it."

Luz nodded and crossed her arms in a projection of extreme confidence. "And we'll darn well beat 'em, too!"
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
"Really, you'll fight him? How?" Shield crossed his arms, then swept over them with his eyes. "You, whose powers are primarily from him? Can't he control you if he wanted?"

"He never did that," Owen said. "He could have tried that a bunch of times but he never actually did."

"He could be waiting," Shield said.

"Well at that point neither of us can prove our point." Cal scowled. "I think you just hate Dark Matter because you want to."

"And how can you blame me?!" Shield snapped.

Pop sighed. "This is ruining the vibe, y'all. Ain't gonna prove anything until we wait and see, ya dig? I'm gonna force Rayquaza out first, see what he's gotta say."

He tapped on the ball and fiddled with the button uncertainly. Then, after a moment, it opened, and in a flood of light that coalesced into the emerald serpent, Rayquaza appeared, looking tall and imposing as always.

He glared at them--it was clear he heard the whole conversation. "Then that is how this will settle?" he asked. "We are simply going to accept their stance?" His intense eyes narrowed, glaring particularly at Brisa for some reason.
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
Pronouns
they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
Brissa scoffed. "Well I sure ain't gonna kill myself or let anyone do me in, just in case Shield is right and Team Spectrum are a liability. Honestly, if Diyem could control us, he oughta have controlled Zane during our first week to save him damagin' our fuckin' reputation so badly with that burglary business. Nah, I don't buy it."

She looked Rayquaza in the eye. "If y'have some productive ideas about how to prove our trustworthiness, let's hear 'em. 'Cause if yer only plan is to beat us to death, we already know that's a non-starter."

Her mane crackled with loose electricity.
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Rayquaza's glare redoubled. "Then you truly believe you can stand up to me?" he said.

"The corruption still hasn't completely left your system." Maple gestured to Rayquaza's form. "It may take a few days for it to completely fade. You should watch your thoughts until then."

"My thoughts are perfectly clear," Rayquaza said. "I and my two subordinates would have no trouble coming to the clear conclusion that they cannot be trusted."

Maple sighed, looking hopelessly toward Pop.

"Nothing we can do to make you chill?" Pop asked.

"Will you drop that infuriating accent? You are disgracing yourself." Rayquaza spat a gout of dragonfire to the ground, leaving a small scorch.

"Ain't no worse than your temper tantrum."

"Are you questioning me?" Rayquaza snarled.

"Are you?" Pop replied coolly.

"W-wait!" Owen shouted, raising his arms as high as they could go. "Um! If... if you're really unconvinced, is there anything at all we can do to prove ourselves?" he asked. "We just want to show that we're good and we won't try to betray you or anything. Or that we can stand on our own against Dark Matter. Okay? We're more than just, you know, his pawns. Diyem is nice, but even if he secretly isn't, we'll handle ourselves, too! We have been for a while, since, you know, he's missing..."
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
Pronouns
they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
Brisa scowled. "We've stood up to one threat after another and won every single time. We've saved innocents, we've helped purify victims, we've... we've even made friends here. We'll keep doin' that, whatever anyone has to say about it."

Luz beamed ear-to-ear. This was what she liked to hear.
 

Shiny Phantump

Through Dream, I Travel
Location
Hallownest
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. sylveon
  2. absol-mega
  3. silvally-psychic
  4. ninetales-phantump
  5. cosmog
  6. gallade-phantump
  7. ceruledge-phantump
Shield shook his head and raised his hands. "No," he said. "No, I think I have my assumptions right on. You guys are pawns in all of this. Your Dark Matter must have been using you as... some sort of tether to get into this world."
Celeste felt like that idea had to be wrong. He didn’t feel like a pawn. Surely things would’ve gone differently if that was the case.

Shield had spun his story. Celeste needed to find a plot hole that would arise from that story if it was true. Assuming he was wrong, and that one existed...

Was there a time they didn’t do something Diyem ordered them to that he could look to? Perhaps the time they ignored his command to “strike down” Turf, but that wasn’t something anyone not on the team could prove happened, and... it really wouldn’t help Diyem’s reputation either.

Perhaps there was instead a time someone did do something that Diyem didn’t want them t-

Zane. Could that accursed Zangoose’s bullheaded streak save them? He couldn’t keep thinking forever, the conversation was already coming to a head without him, and it was the best shot he had. He tried to put on a confidant voice. “Okay. Let’s say you are correct, and that we are Diyem’s pawns... If that were true, there would be a certain event that wouldn’t have happened.

“See, when we first arrived here, one of our teammates made a rather questionable choice: He snuck off alone to commit an act of petty theft. Diyem, of course, did not want him tarnishing our reputation. There wouldn’t even have been anybody there to witness the effects of any control exerted by Diyem.”

Celeste’s voice picked up a feeling of more genuine confidence. “If your theory about Diyem is correct, he would’ve had absolutely no reason not to prevent the theft by using his power over our teammate. However, that is not how events broke down. Diyem instead had to call out to us to prevent it for him, as he could not subvert the free will of our teammate. Before anyone arrived, he did manage to steal something, and very nearly trashed our reputation alongside it.

“What I ask you is why? If Diyem does has nefarious intents, he’s certainly put a great amount of effort into making it seem otherwise. If he could assume control of us, why wouldn’t he prevent such a petty act?

He smirked at Shield. “If you can think of no reason why, that leaves no logical conclusion other than that our free will is ours, and ours alone. So long as we alone control our actions, any nefarious orders Diyem gave, we could simply ignore. He would stand to gain nothing from sending us here.”
 

Ambyssin

Gotta go back. Back to the past.
Location
Residency hell
Pronouns
he/him
Partners
  1. silvally-dragon
  2. necrozma-ultra
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. dreepy
  6. mewtwo-ambyssin
"Huh. Kinda reminds me of what you used to sound like," Esper mused, tiny arms crossed and lips pursed into a grin. Bahamut had no counterargument or witty response. It was the (bitter) truth.

"It sounds like he's so drunk off his own aura sense there's nothing you can say to him that will sway him." The necrozma eyed Shield. "My home planet is going to be destroyed soon, much like yours. And yet I'm here, trying to stop the same fate from befalling this world."
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
If Diyem does has nefarious intents, he’s certainly put a great amount of effort into making it seem otherwise. If he could assume control of us, why wouldn’t he prevent such a petty act?

Shield looked unimpressed. "It's as you said," he said. "Petty theft. Would this Diyem of yours really show his cards for something that simple? Exerting control would have been a last resort. He is waiting to use that power once, when it truly counts, so you don't have the chance to figure out how to counteract it. Dark Matter waited for generation upon generation until he revealed himself to strike when the time was right. What is a few months to him?"

"That's all just... conjecture, though!" Owen protested. "Diyem could have wiped Zane's memories of the event, or just said that he was a liability, or that he had to send him back, or anything, but he didn't! It just isn't... it's so roundabout. Do you really think Dark Matter is so patient that he'd work with others in that way?"

Shield flinched. Between Celeste, Bahamut, and Owen, they had a strong enough argument... But he knew what he sensed. That darkness was the same darkness within this team, and they weren't going to believe him. They were at an impasse.

"You haven't changed much, eh, Rayquay?" Pop asked.

"How dare you."

"Always listening to strength like some old era Dragon." Pop floated toward the others, dropping the accent. "I know what will convince Rayquaza. It is the same thing that dispelled the darkness in his heart during the first modern Omen... The one that made him stare stubbornly forward and downward, as if his pride did not let him believe that anything could be above his head." Pop looked to Rayquaza. "A pride that, as I awoke from my slumber to confront the early arrival of Dark Matter's stirring, made you nearly shirk your duty as guardian of the skies."

Rayquaza kept his scowl, but it dulled slightly, and he had no retort.

"I have a proposal," Pop said simply. "If Rayquaza will only be convinced by strength, then we shall convince him in the traditional Cibus way. Pokemon bond though battle. Through combat, their energies form connections to one another, links and threads that intertwine in ways that simply talking cannot achieve. Perhaps, though another battle, you can show Rayquaza the truth in your hearts."

Rayquaza scoffed. "I will be stronger then," he said. "Escaping from that underground hideout took some energy from me that I hadn't recovered from."

"All the more reason to battle so you can see what they are like with a clear mind," Pop said. "...Maple, how long until they are stable enough to battle again?"

"A few days," Maple said, though she seemed pensive. "But if we do it so soon, they will still be using those Radiant techniques."

"Perfect," Pop said, nodding. "It means it will be a repeat, or similar enough, to their first clash. That will convince you, beyond a shadow of a doubt, their true intentions wouldn't it?" Pop looked to Rayquaza. "Win or lose, you will see how they truly are."
 
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